This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita moved silently toward the source of the earlier explosions.

The moment she saw who was fighting, she dropped all her previous thoughts without hesitation. She drew the golden lightning sword at her waist and charged forward.

Moonbear-form Cinders.

And a Quiet Mountain Frost Deer.

Both of their soul flame outlines were still lit, but the flames themselves had already burned out. Before Rita arrived, they had clearly already clashed using their divine talents.

The instant the Frost Deer saw Starsea Rita, it used a movement skill without hesitation.

Petals and lightning formed a cage around it, but still failed to trap it. That was Rita’s SSS-tier sealing skill, something she had developed by studying QM Rita’s demon prison ability.

Whatever escape skill the Frost Deer used, it wasn’t low-tier.

Rita turned toward Cinders.

As she walked over, she casually asked a few questions only the two of them would know.

"For example, why is Lightchaser’s chimney always blocked?"

Cinders answered patiently, "To stop Wail from crawling into her house."

"And why doesn’t Lightchaser like ranged combat?"

"She thinks when you kill someone, they should know who killed them. If she used ranged attacks, they’d die without ever knowing."

"And has she paid back the tuition she owes Lightchaser yet?"

Cinders paused. "Wait... she owes tuition?"

She answered seriously anyway.

Only after Rita stopped beside her did Cinders narrow her eyes and ask, "Are there players here who can disguise themselves as others?"

"Nope." Rita smiled. "I just wanted to see you answer questions like a proper student."

Only in a place this dangerous would Cinders cooperate like that.

Cinders stared at her. "...You’re asking for it."

The two of them walked together through the Graveyard of Bones, exchanging information as they went.

Rita had Nivalis display the pocket watch map so Cinders could check the time and sync it with her own internal clock. She knew Cinders had a time-recording skill, but she wasn’t sure if it still worked properly here.

Cinders’ antlers lit up softly for a moment.

The honest-looking moonbear scratched her belly, signaling she was done.

Only then did Rita ask, "Did you enter anyone’s burial time after you came in?"

Cinders pointed in a direction.

"Half an hour that way. There’s a swamp. I ran into a Moon Fox god not long after entering. Didn’t recognize him. After testing a bit, I felt like he was from Quiet Mountain, so I left."

Rita nodded seriously. "Mm."

Cinders looked at her. "What about you?"

Rita glanced at the sky. Then at the ground.

"...Mm."

Even if Cinders had entered Byme’s time, she probably wouldn’t have seen anything anyway.

Still. Rita just didn’t feel like talking about it.

Cinders went silent.

...This felt way too familiar.

Wasn’t this exactly what happened back in Quiet Mountain when they exchanged diaries?

She handed over QM Maple Syrup’s diary, and Rita hid QM Mistblade’s like it was top secret.

Even in her gentle moonbear form, her forehead twitched slightly.

"So how did nobody beat you up back when you were in school?"

This habit of taking information without giving any back was seriously annoying.

Rita kept pretending not to notice. She flashed a bright smile.

"I was actually pretty popular, you know. Didn’t you notice? If I wasn’t too lazy to deal with people, it wouldn’t even be clear whether Mistblade or I would’ve been class leader."

Cinders wasn’t interested. She smiled, but her tone turned dangerous.

"Did you enter someone’s burial time?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"...Yeah, I did. Honestly, it was pretty boring."

"Whose? Moon Fox? Oak Owl?"

Cinders started listing guesses, her tone shifting from probing to certain.

"No. Not them. You don’t know those gods. Brilliance... or Vineborne."

"...Vineborne." Rita avoided her gaze for a moment, then looked back like it was perfectly justified. "But seriously, it was boring. Learned nothing. Nivalis, tell her. Am I lying?"

Nivalis immediately backed her up.

"Yeah, she didn’t learn anything. And she even argued with that Vineborne."

Cinders’ bear face went completely expressionless.

Rita quickly added something useful.

"Oh, right. The way to leave a burial time is this. When it reconnects to reality, go back to where you first entered and call the owner’s name. But be careful. The place you’re standing might be an illusion created by them."

Cinders finally calmed down a little.

Still, she declared, "From now on, I’m not saying a single word until you share information first."

Rita nodded rapidly. "This was just an exception."

Cinders had already seen through her.

But after thinking it over, she felt a bit better.

Maybe one day, if Rita stumbled into her past, she’d also be too stingy to share it.

That thought made it easier to let go.

Once the mood eased, Rita added more seriously, "Even if you entered that time, you might not see what I saw. In her eyes, I was a Vineborne. And I just got done getting back at her, so..."

Cinders raised a paw and smacked the back of her head.

"No need to explain. I get it."

Rita would share useful intel.

But she didn’t like retelling other people’s stories.

Thinking of that, Cinders brought up something else.

When Rita had appeared earlier, she had noticed something strange.

The street lamps along the path lit up as Rita approached, then dimmed again as she passed.

But now, there was no such phenomenon.

Cinders explained what she saw. She wanted to know if it was a good sign or a bad one.

After all, she and the Frost Deer had been fighting for over ten minutes, moving across different areas. They had seen both stone lamp posts and plant-based ones.

None of them had lit up.

Even while thinking earlier, Rita had been observing her surroundings. She had noticed it too.

Recalling her thoughts from before, she said, "It might be related to soul flames."

She avoided mentioning anything about Deceitful Bloom and Byme.

Instead, she shared the rest.

The possible change in timing for the fourth bell.

The fact that the soul flames in the Graveyard had become part of Order.

Everything she could say, she did.

Finally, she added, "I was thinking about something earlier. My emotions fluctuated a bit. Kind of like when I’m on the verge of understanding a skill. Maybe it’s connected to that."

The moonbear quietly watched her.

Rita’s gaze had grown distant, calm, almost unfocused. Her voice had softened without her noticing.

After a moment, Cinders suddenly said, "Want to see a magic trick?"

Rita blinked. "What magic?"

Cinders shook her antlers.

Snow began to drift through the fog.

But that wasn’t the trick.

She scratched her belly and pulled out a snowball.

"Make a summer snowman for me."

Rita held the snowball and fell into deep thought.

A moment later, realization hit her.

"Master! You mean even if the seasons outside Binast are wrong, I should still stay true to myself and not melt?"

The moonbear scratched her ear.

"No. I just want you to make one for me. I’ll use it to stay alive."

Rita: ...

No wonder Lightchaser and Cinders got along so well.

Their hearts were equally dark.